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McKinsey tackles value of corporate sustainability programs

By | June 18, 2009, 9:19 AM PDT

A few days back, I wrote about a study conducted by A.T. Kearney into the value of true corporate sustainability programs on a company’s market valuation. Wanted to add some thoughts from an article that was published in The McKinsey Quarterly a few months back called “Valuing corporate social responsibility: McKinsey Global Survey Results.” It seems especially pertinent to write about this topic again this week, given that NASDAQ has finally moved to launch its own sustainability index.

The McKinsey research attempts to assess whether specific financial metrics can be tied to these programs, and it gauges the opinions of CFOs, investment professionals, institutional investors and executives in charge of corporate social responsibility programs. (There were 238 individuals included in the study, which was fielded in December 2008.) The overall opinion of the respondents is that these efforts absolutely do create value; the problem is that most also think this value is too intangible or too long-term to measure.

That said, here are the top ways that the surveyed executives believes sustainability and corporate social responsibility could impact value.

Other ways in which respondents felt these programs could have an impact on value:

  • Improving risk management
  • Strengthening competitive position
  • Improving access to capital

While global economic conditions were seen as having mitigated the potential good that could come out of environmental programs, the respondents felt that these efforts would increase value over the long term.

I’ll close up this entry with one very high-level observation: the data suggests that the more tightly integrated a sustainability program or a corporate social responsibility program is into a company’s core business values, the more likely it is to have an impact on value (positively OR negatively). Interestingly, the CFOs answering the McKinsey survey were more likely to consider these programs according to the bigger picture than the corporate social responsibility professionals.

This data point suggests to me that while it’s good to put someone specific in charge of sustainability or corporate social responsibility efforts, in order to shepherd projects and assume responsibility for their delivery, these programs will have a more profound impact on “value” when they’re considered within the entire portfolio of a company’s performance metrics.

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Heather Clancy

About Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.

Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy

Contributing Editor

Heather Clancy has written for United Press International, ZDNet, Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times. She holds a degree from McGill University. She is based in New Jersey.

Follow her on Twitter.

Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy

I am fascinated about how businesses of all sizes can transform their operations through technology -- not just to make themselves more efficient, but to rise above their competitors. That's the theme for my two ZDNet blogs, Small Business Matters and Next-Gen Partner. For SmartPlanet, I'm focused on profiling inspirational and controversial business leaders who have great leadership lessons to share. I also write regularly and passionately about corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues for GreenBiz.com.

Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where an engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology or moderating Webcasts. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and topics that I cover in my blogs.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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We have been living in Montana for the past 5 years and I am not supri sexy shop to find it #3 on the "worst" list. Considering a sexshop move to Idaho to escapthe high cost of living a low income in MT. There may not be a sales tax here but they get you if you own property!

Where does Idaho rank? We have been living in Montana for the past 5 years and I am not supri sexy shop to find it #3 on the "worst" list. Considering a sexshopmove to Idaho to escapthe high cost of living a low income in MT. There may not be a sales tax here but they get you if you own property!
Posted by filhomarques
21st Jul 2011
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